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User blog:Harold Burned-Mane/The Tale of Baslod - Part I
The Tale of Baslod, the story of one man's journey from lowborn adventurer to Emperor of Tamriel. Introduction The Interregnum, a period of much chaos in Tamriel's history. Our story starts there, with a man named Baslord. Baslod was a lowborn adventurer from Whiterun Hold, who had left home as soon as he became a man so that he didn't have to live the farmer's life like his parents. He was born under the sign of the Warrior, a farmer's life was not for him. He traveled all over Skyrim, building himself a reputation as a master barbarian. During those years he gained his fair share of scars. He was tall, taller than the average Nord, and had already had a powerful authoritative voice. It was during his one of adventurers back in Whiterun that he encountered something like no other. A dragon was attacking the land surrounding the city and the guards were having trouble keeping the creature at bay. Baslod didn't get involved initially and merely observed the fighting from a distance. The Jarl, a man named Torygg God-Hater, was leading his men against the beast. However the old man was past his prime and he was no warrior. He was a bard, a man more suited to playing the lute than wielding a sword. But he was a wrathful man and would not let a dragon terrorize his people. He led his soldiers into battle, but ultimately he died at the hands of the dragon. Without their Jarl, the soldiers became disorganized and began routing. The dragon had won. Baslod, having witnessed the Jarl's sacrifice, decided to join the fray. He, using his thunderous voice, rallied the soldiers to his side and charged at the dragon with weapon in hand. With Baslod leading them, they were able to kill the dragon. Yet something unexpected happened. Baslod absorbed the soul of the dragon before their very eyes. The barbarian, having gained the dragon's knowledge through its soul, unlocked the ability to use his powerful voice to shout with unrelenting force. Something he demonstrated in front of the soldiers. They bowed before him and proclaimed him the new Jarl for having saved their city. Baslod, however, being an ambitious man, proclaimed himself their king instead. The people of Whiterun cheered, proclaiming him the Dragonborn. Baslod returned to the city and sat at the Jarl's seat in Dragonsreach. He was now ruler of all of Whiterun Hold and had the admiration of the people. They had seen him kill a dragon and absorb his soul. To them, Baslod had become a legend. Though when news of Torygg's death and Baslod's coronation reached the other nobles they were not happy. Both the Thanes of Skyborn and Greywinter declared themselves independent from Whiterun. The Thane of Skyborn going as far as proclaiming himself a Jarl. The son of the previous Jarl, a man by the name of Sjorvar God-Hater, was furious. He had been away from Whiterun at the time, off at his sister's lands of Greymarch. When he learned of his father's death and the usurpation of his rightful throne he headed for the city at once. He had been confident that when he got there the soldiers would back him in kicking out Baslod, but they were not. They had little love for Sjorvar, who was a bard like his father as well as very slothful. They refused to back him and Sjorvar went to challenge Baslod. After seeing the tall Dragonborn in person, the Jarl's son changed his mind. Baslod decided to allow Sjorvar to remain in Dragonsreach with his family and took Sjorvar's son Leifur as his ward. Wanting to legitimize his claim to Whiterun, Baslod sought out the late Jarl's daughter, a woman by the name of Iona God-Hater. She was the Thane of Greymarch and thus would be able to back Baslod should any of the other thanes revolted against him. Having the previous Jarl's daughter as his wife would also ensure that no one could use his lack of lineage with Clan God-Hater as an excuse to rebel. He sent Thane Iona a marriage request, seeing as both of them were single. Iona was a former priest of the Divines, but left the temple since she had no real talent for it. Unlike her brother and father, she was a brave woman, but also proud and greedy. Baslod wasn't sure what she would do, if she would see his offer as an insult, due to him being of low birth, or whether her greed would make her try to claim the throne by force. He waited anxiously for her reply. All the while he began taking young Leifur under his wing. King Baslod received a reply from Thane Iona a few days later. She accepted his offer of marriage and the two were soon wed at the Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun, though Iona had to return to her own settlement to rule it. The two would regularly pay visits to each other. Leifur's Training Leifur, only 7 years old, had yet to come into his own. Though in the short time that he had been following and learning from Baslod, the Dragonborn already began to rub of on him. The young boy became infatuated with adventure and wanted to be just like Baslod. For that purpose he didn't want to be sent to the Bards' College like his father and grandfather had been, he wanted to be a barbarian just like the new king. He began to often run off to train in Dragonsreach's courtyard with a guard that he had befriended. When Baslod caught wind of this he decided to encourage the lad and officially had the guards begin training him in the art of swordfighting. From this training Leifur became brave just like his aunt. He was on the path of becoming a true warrior. Pilgrimage Following his discovery of his being a Dragonborn, Baslod decided to set off on a pilgrimage to High Hrothgar. He left his new wife in charge of the kingdom as he and a few friends went on the journey up the throat of the world. One of those friends was Kjorn Bjariksen, a Nord adventurer that Baslod met years ago. Kjorn was a masterful knight, proficient in light armor, and a tactical genius. He was born under the sign of the Lord. Like Baslod, Kjorn had the scars to show his experience. After splitting off from Baslod 3 years ago he entered into the service of the King of the Rift. There he serve as one of his commanders, leading his armies. Kjorn was an man who always led from the front, and because of his own skills he was very proficient in leading light infantry. The Rift was an area of forests and hills, so Kjorn learned to lead armies in rough terrain. When he had heard that his friend had been proclaimed King of Whiterun and a Dragonborn, Kjorn headed there right away to see if the rumors were true. When he saw that they were, he decided to stay in Baslod's court. When the king decided to head to High Hrothgar he was one of the first to volunteer to go with him. Another friend that joined Baslod on his journey was Deydris Greyrose, a Bosmer that he met in his youth. Deydris had sneaked onto his family's farm and tried to steal from their food supplies. Baslod's father took pity on the homeless bosmer and decided to let him stay and live there in exchange for helping out around the farm. The two thus grew up together. Shortly after Baslod left, Deydris did as well. Though he didn't become an adventurer, he used his skills as a hunter for the assassin's life. A few years later, however, he joined up with the Thieves Guild and rose up the ranks. About a year before Baslod became King, Deydris retired from the thief's life. When he heard about Baslod's coronation he headed to Whiterun to reunite with his childhood friend. After the reunion, Deydris was made Baslod's new Spymaster, using his skills in intrigue to further the Nord's goals. They set off from Whiterun to Ivarstead, to climb the 7000 steps up the mountain. Despite the warnings given to them by the people of Ivarstead, King Baslod and his group pressed on, determined to make it to High Hrothgar to meet with the Greybeards. With their first steps up the mountain path, their pilgrimage had truly begun. They passed the first emblem, Baslod and Kjorn took the time to read the history prescribed on it before they pressed onwards to the next one. By the time they reached the second emblem, it was starting to get dark. Deydris pointed out that they would need to make a camp for the night or head back to Ivarstead. Baslod decided to camp, he didn't want to head back down until he had reached the top. Deydris obliged and picked out a nice spot for the three of them to make camp, by the path. Because of the dangers of wild wolves or worse, they took turns taking watch throughout the night. The next day they packed up their camp and continued up the path. Kjorn mentioned that there were bandits near this section of the path, those that preyed in the pilgrims after their first night. Baslod was not deterred, they pressed on. Past the 3rd emblem the bandits blocked their path. They demanded that the trio give them their valuables. Baslod laughed at them and refused. Angered, the bandits attacked. The king shouted at them with unrelenting force, sending one of the bandits off the mountainside. Kjorn drew his weapon and attacked the other. He exploited the bandit's weaknesses and easily took him down. Deydris drew his bow and gave support to the two Nords, taking out bandits before they could even reach the two. The tall Nord barely needed to draw his weapon before all their enemies were killed. After all the bandits were dead, the trio continued to the 4th emblem. It had begun to snow lightly when they reached the 4th emblem. Baslod assumed that a snowstorm was likely to come, though they still progressed up the 7000 steps. Back in Ivarstead, the locals had warned them of the wolves on the mountain and Deydris, from his expertise in hunting, spotted wolf tracks nearby. He warned the group against continuing straight ahead and instead suggested that they go through another way, bypassing the den. The Nords agreed with his plan and followed him. Thanks to the Bosmer's insight they were able to get past without fighting any wolves. At the 6th emblem they met another group of pilgrims, namely older folk. Deydris warned not to get to friendly with them, seeing as he was used to deception. After reaching the 7th emblem, Baslod once again warned of an impending snowstorm. Though this time all three agreed that the weather was looking pretty bad. They found a small cave to take shelter in before the snowstorm began. Once the storm finally cleared they pressed onwards, to the 8th emblem. They were nearing the top, only the 9th emblem was left before the one outside High Hrothgar. Finally, they made it to the 9th after multiple days of traveling from Whiterun. High Hrothgar and the final emblem were in sight ahead. Though because it was getting dark, they decided to camp out by the 9th emblem for the night. It was early in the morning when they packed up camp and then reached the steps of High Hrothgar. King Baslod approached the temple doors, with his two faithful companions at his sides, and knocked on the door. There was no response for a couple minutes before the doors were unlocked. Though no one opened them for the group. Baslod pushed the doors open and they walked inside. Near the entrance a group of robed old men was gathered, the Greybeards. "DOVAHKIIN" they shouted at Baslod when he approached them. The King withstood their voices and then replied with his own Thu'um. Having confirmed his identity, the Greybeards welcome Baslod and his companions to High Hrothgar. After they shared a meal with the old men, their leader explained a little of their history to Baslod. He told him about the Way of the Voice and many more things, educating the king on how the Thu'um came to be. These lessons lasted a couple days as the Greybeards taught their philosophy and some of their skills to Baslod. Finally in a week's time they decided that he was ready. Once more they had him withstand their shouts as they spoke in Dovahzul, the language of the dragons, the prophecy that awaited Baslod. They dubbed him Ysmir Stormcrown and said that for him awaited the road to bringing about the end of the Interregnum. For that he would need to conquer all 9 provinces and unite Tamriel under one ruler. He stood there and took their words into himself, having that prophecy engraved into his very bones. This moment would be his driving force for years to come. Having been born a farmer's son, Baslod wasn't a part of any prestigious Nordic clan. So, having been given the name Ysmir Stormcrown he formed his own clan: Clan Stormcrown. He took for his sigil a white dragon on a blue field, to represent the Dragon of the North, Ysmir. After having received the knowledge of the Greybeards and withstood their prophecy, Baslod departed High Hrothgar to return to his kingdom of Whiterun. He had much to do if he was to unite Tamriel under Clan Stormcrown. Return to Whiterun When he returned to Whiterun, Baslod was pleasantly surprised to learn that his wife was pregnant. Iona had been in Whiterun serving as regent until he returned and so she was there to meet him when he arrived. She was only a few weeks pregnant, so it wasn't showing as much. Baslod was delighted, now he had a Clan and would soon have heirs to continue his line. Like most Eight Divines worshipers, Baslod decided to choose a patron, a Divine that he valued above the others. His decision would change how some people viewed him so he put some thought into it. While Whiterun had a Temple of Kynareth and its inhabitants were very devoted to the nature Goddess, Baslod decided to devote himself to Akatosh. This was mostly because he was Dragonborn, blessed by Akatosh with the blood and soul of a dragon. He felt that because of the blessing he should serve Akatosh above all other Divines. For a few decades now, the Thanedom of Scarstone had been empty, since the time of Jarl Torygg of Whiterun. As such, King Baslod decided to give the title away to someone loyal and worthy. He decided that his friend and loyal companion Kjorn would make a perfect Thane and as such granted the title and lands to him. This would further consolidate his rule over the kingdom, as he would now have an loyal vassal to trust. After Baslod granted the lands to Kjorn, the Nord left the city for his new castle in Scarstone. He was glad to have received the title, as he was originally born near Scarstone, so heading back there meant heading home for him. While he had become a Thane, he decided to remain as one of Baslod's commanders. He would also have his own forces to command now. After he made it to Scarstone and became accustomed to his new life as a Thane, Kjorn began to think about settling down and finally take an arrow to the knee. He thought constantly about Princess Threki of the Rift, the daughter to the King of the Rift. During his time serving the King he had become smitten with Threki, but because of his low station and birth he wasn't allowed to ask her hand in marriage. Things only got worse for Kjorn when Threki was married off to a local Jarl to secure his alliance to her father. It was because of this marriage that when a valid reason to leave the Rift came, Kjorn took it. Sometime after he came to Whiterun, Kjorn learned that Threki's husband had died and their son had become the new Jarl in his place. He thought about asked for her hand once more then, but he was still just a lowborn courtier and as such would never be allowed to marry the princess of the Rift. Becoming Thane changed all that. Kjorn was now a landed lord, a nobleman, and so he decided to send a letter to the King of the Rift asking for her hand in marriage. The King, who actually liked Kjorn and respected him for his service to him as a commander, agreed upon learning that he was Thane of Scarstone and gave him his blessing. With the king's blessing, Kjorn rode off to meet with Threki in her son's Jarldom and there he asked for her hand in marriage. Threki had been smitten with the brilliant commander as well before being married off and those feelings had not gone away. She wholeheartedly agreed to the marriage and went with Kjorn back to Scarstone where the two were wed. When he had returned to Whiterun, Baslod had resumed to take care of his young ward. Though the king's time way had caused the boy to take too much influence from his aunt and father and as such he was beginning to become an arrogant child. Baslod knew that that would not do. He was grooming Leifur to be a brave warrior, but him being too proud or too ambitious would prove a threat to his rule. As such he began to counsel the lad to be more humble. Ultimately he was not able to make Leifur humble, but at least he was no longer so full of himself as he had been following Baslod's return. Nine months after their wedding, Iona gave birth to twin girls in Whiterun. Baslod named the first Astrid while he named the second Iona, after her mother. With two baby girls, the King's line was secure. Astrid was his heir, since she was the first twin to be born. His clan's reign was now secure, as his daughters had the blood of the previous Jarl. He no longer had to fear a coup in favor of his brother-in-law Sjorvar. The people of Whiterun celebrated the birth of the two Stormcrown babes, as happy from the news as the new parents at Dragonsreach. Deydris was there to congratulate Baslod on the daughters, while Thane Kjorn and his wife soon visited to congratulate the King and Queen as well. With his rule secure and his destiny set before him, King Baslod the Dragonborn turned his gaze to his neighbors. It was time to expand his realm. _____________________________________ This is the start of the Tale of Baslod. I will be adding to his story over time. My plan is to tell the whole tale of Baslod until his death. Leave your thoughts on the story below and if you'd like I can add custom characters created by you guys to the story. If you want to suggest a custom character just leave a message below and I can ask you the necessary information for creating the custom character. The custom characters can be vassals or courtiers of Baslod. The available positions currently are: *Chancellor (Should be a character good in diplomacy) *Marshal (Should be a character good in martial) *Steward (Should be a character good in stewardship) *Magister (Should be a character good in learning) Category:Blog posts Category:Elder Kings Category:Stories